Striking a Match: the Story of Davits Draven
by MikeRayburn2481
Summary: After the dissolution of the Imperial Senate subcomittee on Sentient Rights, a Junior Senator from the Alderaanian Sector world of Alsakan has had enough. But to make his statement loud and clear he'll need his aid and lover to get a hold of her brother, Imperial Army defector and suspected separatist, Davits Draven.
1. Chapter 1

Avin Berus walked briskly down one of the many corridors leading away from the Senate Rotunda. In truth, he stomped. After having to listen to that ghoulish nerfherder drone on about the accomplishments of his new Galactic Empire for the better part of three hours it was all he could do to not add a primal yell to his heavy footfalls. What was worse was that Palpatine wasn't even feigning resignation or a reluctance to be eradicating a four-thousand-year-old democracy. In point of fact, he seemed to be gloating in its destruction. And with most non-Human senators having lost their seat, not a single senator, other than Avin's mentor and his sector's senior senator Bail Organa, seemed to be showing anything other than sycophantic adulation. However, Avin could stomach all the hypocrisy and self-aggrandizement and keep working at the margins to make life better for the currently and soon to be oppressed. But Palpatine's dissolution of the Senatorial committees on sentient rights today meant even those marginal changes would soon become an impossibility. That was when Avin Berus made an inner commitment; Emperor Palpatine had to die.

He had no illusions about what would happen afterward. There would be no miraculous return to democracy. His stormtroopers and Moffs would surely see to the continuation of this new order. Most likely he would be found out and killed in some horrific manner. And his constituents would be further smushed under the jackboot of imperial power. But movements were lit by sparks. And the assassination of the mind behind the formation and operation of this evil empire would provide the ultimate match strike that, with cover, and a few well-placed pokes and blows, could turn into the raging fire needed to topple this monstrosity.

The first person he needed to talk to was his aide-de-camp, Athleenia Signus, who changed her given surname when her brother, Davits, deserted from the newly reformed Imperial Army and rendered the name Draven a danger from there forward. He strode into the apartment designated for Alsakan in 500 Republica and Athleenia was waiting to take his coat.

"How did it go sir?" the young blonde woman asked in a tone that suggested she already knew the answer.

"three minutes of good news…two hours and fifty-seven minutes of bad" he said, taking off his boots and propping his feet up on a duvet as Athleenia settled a tumbler of Alderaanian whiskey in his right hand.

"What was the three minutes of good?" she asked, a bit incredulous.

He looked at her as if he hadn't heard her correctly but then answered anyway when her questioned register. "Count Vidian is dead…the crystal caves on Cynda are saved…for the time being anyway".

She went to the closet and hung his coat up. "that is good news actually. How?"

"What's that?"

"How did Vidian die?"

Avin waved a hand dismissively. "Saying a relapse of Shillmar Syndrome".

"But you don't believe them?"

Now it was his turn to look incredulous. "I don't believe a word this government says".

"Which brings me to my question". He fished into his vest pocket for something and brought out a small black cylinder which he placed on the caf table and pressed a button. The cylinder opened into a small dish and the red light in the center flashed green. Even with the all clear he reached out a hand and she took it. He drew her in until she had no choice but to plop down into his lap. Which would've been strange two years ago before they were sleeping together. He put his drink on the floor and took her cheek in his right hand before giving her small kiss. "Can you still get in touch with your brother?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Davits Draven checked the holochrono on his wrist for seventh time in the last two minutes. The convoy should've jumped in already. Suddenly the fabric of space at the edge of the Maryx Minor System rippled and a Broadside-Class cruiser materialized a moment later. The short, stocky, broadside was the Ugnaught of the Imperial fleet but was far too big for the IPV-1 patrol craft the former Republic Intelligence officer currently found himself on the bridge of.

"…aannnddd…now" Dravits exclaimed and the pilot, an Abenedo named Ca'i Ootek, looked out the viewport expectantly. A shimmer of energy rolled like a wave over the escort cruiser as it tripped the EMP mine laid by the pirates an hour ago.

"now" Dravits thrust an arm forward and Ca'i engaged thrusters and the small craft shot out from the asteroid belt it had been hiding in, and flew towards the Kiara-Class cargo ferry already speeding around its disabled bodyguard.

Dravits moved to the back of the shuttle and found his team of four suited up and armed. All standing around the hatch in the bottom of the shuttle. Three of the four had been with Davits since the Clone Wars, and had left with him once they started getting demoted and replaced by beings that looked more like Davits. There was the Rodian Nuwyimi Vlels. A green Nikto named Cosh Quartos, and an Ardinian whose sentence length name had been shortened to Chappie years before. And another human they had picked up in a cantina on Kazara a year before. His name was Antoc Merrick. He gave them the thumbs up and secured his own helmet before checking the power on his DH-17.

A moment later Ca'i's voice came over their helmet comm. "In position."

Davits pointed at Cosh and the Nikto lifted the emergency latch to open the belly hatch. As soon as the seal was broken a magnetic seal replaced the durasteel one, keeping them from all combusting through depressurization. Without another prompt, Chappie jumped through the hole with a crodium cable in two of his four limbs. They gathered around the portal and watched as the ardinian used his thrusters to land safely on the hauler. He only had to hold the end of the attachment cable over the hull of the ship and the magnetic clamps did the rest. With the line secure they made their way down one by one.

By the time Anton's mag boots hit the hull Chappie was halfway done cutting through the top hatch on their target. Thirty seconds later he had just an inch to go.

"Remember; no casualties if it can be helped. This is a small delivery and should not be carrying any troopers" Davits said as the hatch fell in and another shimmer of emergency magnetic sealant covered the improvised opening.

Always trying to set an example, Davits was the first one through. He landed in a small connection bay lit with emergency lighting. He gave a quick scan of the corridors before looking back to his people and calling them down. Nuwyimi was the first to drop down and as he did Davits could see his eyes bulge. Only a human who had worked with a Rodian for as long as Davits had could tell when their eyes bulged. The Rodian dropped into a crouch and brought his Relby V-10 up to his shoulder and let loose a volley of bolts down the corridor behind Davits. Davits ran for the cover opposite Nuwyimi and peeked around the corner. He could just make out the white helmet of a stormtrooper before a blinding light and the searing heat of a blaster bolt struck the corner of the wall in front of his face. He began signaling Nuwyimi to go forward as a metallic object flew between them and down the corridor. A moment later they heard "stang" and "fierfek" simultaneously followed by a thunderous blast that shook the phglem from Davits' lungs. After the rain of debris finally stopped he and Nuwyimi turned to see Chappie. "small delivery he says…no troopers he says".

Davits looked up to see the laugher in his helmet was coming from Merrick looking down through the portal.

The score of bacta was their biggest yet and would go along way to easing some of the suffering on Karazac, the multi-cultural Outer Rim world that had become their home. After dropping the supplies off with their contact they got back to their base of operations; a fungi farm in the planet's vast underground system. The farm's proprietor, a Jawa named Jit Jekit, who they had come to know as Mama Jit. Unlike their cousins on the homeworld of Tatooine, the Karazac Jawa farmed instead of traded, and wore simple light colored robes without the hoods. Their large orange eyes were made for seeing in the dark but with the terraforming and colonization of their homeworld, they had to come out of caves of their homeworld and out into the bright light of its twin suns. Those who did not want to "adapt" to this new normal left for the far larger subterranean system of Karazac millenia ago to continue their traditional lifestyle.

"Asi asi, moki munsi-si" the dimunitive alien said as they filed into the multi-storied hovel they called home. The Jawa vocal cords could not form galactic basic so often times communication came via a protocol droid they had picked up on the surface some time ago. However, this time Mama Jit's hand motions were enough to tell them she wanted them to sit down so she could feed them. Davits had gleaned enough from Mama Jit to know she now saw their crew as the family she had lost. The Empire cracked down hard on Karazac. For no other reason than the mushrooms grown here were considered a delicacy in the Core…a very pricey delicacy. That meant the Moff of this sector pocketed a ton of profit while the farmers got to keep their miserable lives. Apparently, Jit's family didn't believe this new arrangement was fair…and now they're gone.

As she set the bowl down in front of Davits she said something else in her excitable language that hand gestures could not translate. Davits looked to the droid putting down soup in front of Nuwyimi. "She says your communication device was buzzing some time ago".

Davits looked puzzled. Anton shared his confusion and put down his spoonful of 'nourishment' as they had come to call it. "the encrypted comm? Who has that number?"

Davits stood up from the table. "Only one person" he answered as he hurried up the steps.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Athli" Davits said into the comm both excited and worried. "What's wrong? Why are you risking this?"

"Hello to you too big brother" she answered.

Davits wiped his forehead. "No, hey. You know I'm glad to hear from you…but if they trace this your position won't save you".

"I love you Davits. Here, someone wants to talk to you".

Davits swallowed hard. _Was she already with the ISB? Had they found out who she was?_

"Davits" a gruff older voice came over the comm. "This is Senator Avin Berus. I represent Alsakan and the Alderaanian Sector. Your sister is my personal secretary."

"Oh…kay" Davits answered, still unsure where this was headed.

"Trust me when I say that we have taken precautions before contacting you".

"What is it you want Senator Berus?"

"I want to assassinate Palpatine. And I want your help to do it".

The statement was made so non-chalantly, that Berus may have well said he wanted to go to the swoop race Davits thought.

"You still with me Mister Draven" the dignified voice snapped him back to the crux of the question.

"Yes I'm with you" he answered.

"I don't just mean paying attention. Are you _with_ me in this endeavor to rid the galaxy of tyranny and restor-"

"-Senator Berus, I am well past needing convincing. I've been out here nipping at the heels of the Empire for as long as it's been calling itself that".

"Well then how would you like to jump up and grab it by the throat?"

Davits swallowed hard again, but this time that lump was caused by excitement rather than worry. "What do you need from me?"

"I need the _how_. I'll take care of the _where_ and _when_?"

"Can you do that?"

Davits stared up at the cavernous ceiling and something he had just thought of came back to him again… _like he was going to a swoop race…_ "Yes sir…I believe I can".


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"the emperor? They want to go after the emperor directly?" Antoc asked dumbfounded.

Davits looked at her from across the stone table with a brief grimace. "Yes…and don't call him that" he snapped. For his part, Antoc looked embarrassed and sat back.

Davits scanned the table from Ca'i to Cosh and finally to Nuwyimi, who gave the Rodian equivalent of an uneasy whistle through his elongated snout.

Finally, Davits cross his arms across his chest and stared at his navel. "I have to say it; this is the first time I have ever been disappointed by anyone in this crew, let alone the entire crew".

That provoked an immediate reaction as Cosh sat forward. "I can't speak for these guys cap, but I'm not against this plan I jus-"

"-against this plan?" Davits asked, looking up at the Nikto. "You're not _against_ this plan?"

Davits Draven stood up and gripped the table. "We finally get the backing from someone with real power in government who wants to cut the head off this viper and you're not _against_ it? What in the name of the Force have we been doing all this time?"

"building something" Cosh stood as well now. "We're building a true rebellion out here Davits. This plan would have us throw away all that we've done. Even if by some miracle we manage to get Palpatine, Mas Amedda or Greejatus would just take over. The machine will keep on grinding…and we'll just be dead!"

Davits looked truly disgusted. "You think those sycophantic lackeys could do what Palpatine does? And the fact you think we are anything more than a banthafly buzzing around the ass end of this beast out here, tells me more than I wanted to know about your ambitions."

"kava me hagwa su" Nuwyimi chimed in Huttese.

"Yeah how dare you question our ambition…human!" Cosh bellowed. "We're the ones fighting for our lives out here…you're just playing at it!"

For the first time Davits looked regretful. "Cosh look…there's almost two million inhabited planets in this empire. But the beings that operate this machine; the government, the corporate bosses, the union leaders, the celebrities…they only care about maybe a hundred. The rest are simply resources to fuel the Core. Unless we strike there we will never make a mark. We could harass shipping to a million worlds in the Colonies or the Rim before we got a mention on the HN. We are never going to strike the match needed to burn this house down unless we dare to do something bold…in the Core. We'd accomplish more in a days failure on Coruscant than we would in a decade of success out here".

"Gra kihool" Ca'i announced in his low guttural language.

Davits put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, friend".

A moment later Nuwyimi held out a suction fingered hand from across the table. Davits came around the table to take it in both his own. "Cosh?"

The green skinned Nikto was still standing and staring at the rocky floor. "You with us?"

He started to nod his head before looking up. "Yeah I'm with you"

Davits let go of the Rodian and moved around him towards Cosh. "And cap I'm sorry about what-"

He waved away his apology by slapping away his hand and enveloping him in a huge bear hug.

"uta uta wooti-ti" came the cry from the living quarter's kitchen entryway and they all turned to see Mama Jit with her hands above her head in celebratory fashion. "asi asi moki m-"

"No, no" they all said in unison. "we're full Mama…we're full" Davits added to quiet chuckles around the table.

From the other doorway came Chappie, peeling gloves off his two forehands with his two rear hands. "Hey Suutrar took the deal on the bacta. He wasn't happy but he toooook I" the alien trailed off as he looked up and appraised the scene. "What'd I miss?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Can the senator get us into the Rotunda?" Ca'i asked.

"No. They are treated like an enemy delegation during any session. Palpatine only trusts a handful of senators, and he doesn't trust either of them from the Alderaan Sector."

Mama began setting steaming cups of tea in front of each of them. "Do we at least know his itinerary?" this from Cosh.

Davits gave a rueful shake of the head. "But there are the events he should be at; Royal Academy graduations, diplomatic summits with the handful of non-annexed systems, Empire Day celebrations, apparently Sienar Systems is building some new class of SD that he should be at the commissioning of. Actually if we-"

"-Wait, wait, wait" Antoc cut in, putting up a hand. "say that again".

Davits shrugged. "Sienar is working on a new Star Destoyer."

"No, no, before that".

"um…summits, Empire Day?"

"yeah Empire Day…what are they doing this year?" Merrick asked, still staring at the wall behind Davits.

"I'm not sure I-"

"-I just read it" he said and pulled out his datapad. A moment later he found what he was looking for and held up the pad for all to see.

"Yeah, here…look". The screen showed an advertisement for Empire Day celebrations on Coruscant; a concert, lightworks, and a swoop race".

"You want to sabotage the lightworks so they all fire right at Palpatine?" Nuwyimi said before laughing lightly at his own joke.

Finally a light went on in Davits eyes and he looked to Merrick. "Keric Ketaris" they said together.

"Who is Keric Ke…"

"Ketaris" Antoc finished for Chappie. "He's a swoop racer…one of the best".

"aaannnddd?" the Ardinian continued.

"And he's an ex-Separatist whose wife and children were killed in the Antar Atrocity" Davits answered.

"Which is why he would be willing to do anything to help us take Palpatine down" Merrick added.

"A gotal will never get anywhere near an Empire Day celebration" Chappie said with a defeated shrug.

"He's not. He's a human from a mixed family. But gotal or not he made a big enough name for himself that he couldn't get within a million light years of him…a known dissident who lost his family to Imperial 'pacification' is not going to be invited to the Empire Day race".

"How do you two know him?"

The two lone humans shared a look before the elder turned to the Ardinian. "We fought against him".

Silence reigned throughout the hovel for a minute before Cosh spoke up. "What if they didn't know Ketaris was Ketaris?"

"You change his name you erase his reputation" Merrick stated matter-of-factly.

"So he rebuilds it" Cosh persisted. "It's not like swoop racing is a well-organized sport. We move him over here. If he's as good as you say he wins a couple races, Makes a name for himself as so and so from this sector, which, by the way, is the other side of the slice from Antar IV."

Davits looked to Merrick and the latter shrugged. "Could work". He looked back to the Nikto. "Do you know someone who can fake up idents on this level".

Cosh Quarto leaned forward and nodded over his cupped hands. "I do…but I got to go to Wrea".


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Dropping out of lightspeed now" Merrick announced as he throttled back on the hyperdrive.

A planet of mottled brown and blue loomed large in their forward viewscreen. "Atzerri, somehow I have the feeling walking onto this world is going to leave me with an overwhelming feeling of regret" Draven said from the co-pilots seat.

Atzerri had been the Gotal's primary extrasolar colony, but after the Clone Wars it had turned into a refuge for the myriad species who had once made up the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Here they could get away from the Imperial harassment faced on their homeworlds. But the tradeoff was lack of access to any sort of integrated economy or government assistance. Breaking through the planet's cloudbank they got a good glimpse of just what that isolation had caused.

They got clearance from a barely interested traffic controller to land in an open bay. Immediately stepping through the bay doors they were accosted by gossams hawking handmade trinkets, koorivar deathstick dealers, Nemoidian credit changers, and once overs from a group of Umbaran toughs. It was like a who's who from the shooting gallery of Draven's past.

Three cantinas, two fights, and a near stabbing later, they had a location for Keric Ketaris. Walking down the pedway to the resi-block the former major reportedly lived in was an exercise in patience. It took every bit of personal restraint to not start beating off the beggars who had learned long ago their best chance for relief was to attempt to physically block the path of their intended target. Both Draven and Merrick had given out their allotment of credits outside the first cantina they entered.

Finally they got to the T-in the pedway that should've placed Ketaris' residence in front of them. If this was it then whoa how the mighty had fallen. Even before he was a celebrated CIS Major during the Clone Wars, Keric Ketaris had been a wealthy swoop racer on the underground circuit. Draven remembered the report he read on him before the Siege of Merson that showed a palatial estate he had built on Antar IV with his swoop winnings. Draven remembered thinking how someone with all that could risk it on something so wrong as the ravings of Count Dooku. But in hindsight he was sure Ketaris could say the same thing about him. The hovel they approached now would've fit in Ketaris' old foyer. Apparently on Atzerri a "resi-block" was a block of barely standing duraplast sheds.

As they approached the front Draven's spy training kicked in and he signaled Merrick around the side. Instead of risking a close range slug thrower blast, Draven stopped in the middle of the pedway. "Keric Ketaris!" as he yelled he held both of his hands out in front of him. "I won't insult your intelligence by pretending to be somebody else. But I want you to know that I'm just here to ta-"

Draven would later learn that is was only Ketaris's drunken state that sent his shot wide. In the present he was learning he had a mouth full of dirt. He scrambled to his feet and ran for the cover of a holomag vendor on the far side of the street. A moment later the front door flew open and Ketaris shot another round into the air before leveling the slug thrower at the stand. The mirialan vender scooted off down the street, but not at a pace that would suggest this was a truly frightening moment for him. In fact, Draven noticed, most of the denizens around them went about their business as if nothing untoward was happening.

"What are you doing here Republic!?" the human slurred. Draven peeked out from around the side and could see the man swaying slightly from side to side. He was truly tanked. Davits also looked past him to see the resolution to this standoff.

"I just want to talk to you Keric" Davits yelled back without showing his face.

"Talk?! About what? Your name is Draven in't?"

"Yeah, and mine is Merrick. Now drop it". Once Davits heard the heavy sound of a Czerka Adventurer hit the hard packed dirt he stood to see Antoc with a blaster barrel to their target's temple.

Five minutes later they were drinking tea together in Keric's closet size kitchen. The drunk man had the only seat as the other two were filled with stacks of garbage and/or flimsis. A quick glance and Davits could see most of the flimsis had to do with Palpatine or the Empire. They had come to the right man.

"So you wanted to talk, talk" Keric said while he took a noisy sip from his tea cup. A moment later he grabbed bottle off the counter behind him and refilled the missing space in his cup with spirit.

Davits and Antoc traded a sideways glance. "We're putting together a mission to take out Palpatine".

Keric snorted at that. "You mean your old Chancellor Sheev Palpatine?" his tone left no doubt as to his meaning. So Davits simply nodded. He was going to have to let the man have his 'I told you so' now or later.

"You mean the same Chancellor Palpatine you destroyed half the galaxy to keep in power? That Palpatine?"

With still no verbal response he went on, his face reddening with each repost. "the same Palpatine we warned you was centralizing power in direct contradiction to the Republic Charter? That guy!?"

It was time to end this. "Yes Keric, that Palpatine. I cannot apologize for the side I chose. While I believed the Republic needed reform I could not abide blowing it up. But whatever divided us then is far weaker than what unites us now. We both prize freedom, and what is happening in the galaxy right now is the antithesis of it. Even if we fail our attempt can strike the match, and maybe others will stir and protect the small fire it creates until it burns down his whole stanging house".

"Alright I'm in"

"Good. But I have to warn you now your part maybe a one way ticket".

The glassy eyed man waved an arm around his empty, trash-filled, home. "Do I look like somebody who cares?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

They got back to Kerazac with a slightly more clear eyed Keric Ketaris. Bringing the ship down into the cave they saw Cosh, Ca'i, and Nuwyimi file out of the rock carved abode they had called home for the last two years. As they made their way down the ramp Cosh held out his arms, "see you were successful. Nice to meet you…" the nikto trailed off as Ketaris walked by his proffered arm with a barely audible grunt. Davits changed the subject with a question of his own as he came down last. "What about you? We in business?"

Cosh somewhat coolly pivoted his rejected arm back to Nuwyimi as the rodian flashed a handful of ident chips like a winning sabacc hand. Davits flipped the back up on to his shoulder and took one of the chips held out by Nuwyimi and gave it a good once over.

"these are top notch" he breathed as he held the chip closer. "who did you say did this?"

The nikto shrugged. "a human girl who lives with Saw."

"girlfriend?"

"More like a daughter. Long story".

Davits nodded his understanding at that and let it drop. "So did Saw ask questions?"

"He didn't have time before Ca'i was telling him everything but the outfits we would be wearing during the attack"

"He didn't?" he said mouth agape. "You didn't?" he turned to the four-armed Ardinian pulling up his pants with his lower arms and rubbing a creasing forehead with a top arm.

Finally he shrugged. "It was Saw! He said if we need anything else to-"

"-Who else was there?" Draven demanded as they began walking inside.

"Just his 2nd in command, Rayce something or other"

"Reece? Tallant?"

"Yeah that's him…you know 'em?"

Davits shrugged as he sat down his pack and gave a warm hug to Mama. "He used to run that crew before Saw".

"So you see? No problem" Ca'i said brushing together his top hands.

"Maybe this time, but don't" the leader jabbed a bony finger into the alien's chest, "let it happen again."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Given that most of the best racers in the galaxy were not human, it was far easier than any of them thought to secure Keric a place at the Empire Day swoop race on Coruscant…or Imperial Center as the Imps preferred to call it.

In their well-studied plan, the most dangerous part would be the visitor check at Imperial City Spaceport followed closely by the Intergalactic Swoop Racing Authority's inspection of their swoop. But first came the spaceport.

One of the first things the Emperor had done was seizing complete control of the galaxy, was to get rid of a large chunk of private commerce. Barons and nobles who had supported him, or at least began supporting his rule in earnest, could keep control of their respective industries. The rest…well, the rest were imperialized. But even those supporters whose business lay in a market deemed critical to galactic order, could lose everything. Chief among those were the spaceport owners of Coruscant. Unwilling to allow private concerns to control the comings and goings from Imperial Center, Palpatine demolished many of the smaller spaceports like Coco, Eastport, and Newport. Instead, he kept just two; the Galactic City Spaceport, and the Chancellor Palpatine Spaceport. He extended both by hundreds of square miles to accommodate the influx in traffic, and slightly altered the name of the latter. Keric Ketaris and his two "engineers" landed in a private bay of GCS. The whole of their plan banked on the fact that out of billion known and probable dissidents, Davits Draven and Antoc Merrick would not be logged in the Empire's facial recognition database. While they could've opted for facial alterations or holographic masks they chose not to. The danger of altering your bone structure to someone that would hit, or being caught with a holographic mask, was as great if not greater.

As they approached the checkpoint leading out of their private bay, they were greeted by a stern looking woman in Imperial gray sporting a severe hairstyle that pulled the creases out of her forehead.

"ID's in the tray" she announced in a haughty Core accent. All three of them did as she asked and waited to see if Saw's 'girl' was as good as advertised. She must have been as the woman gave a resigned nod and the tray with their ID's popped back out.

"Through the scanner one at a time" she said, nodding at the door shaped cut out just in front of the actual security door.

Keric went first, stopping on the other side and turning around to await Antoc and then Davits. Once all of them were through they peered up at 'severe haircut' and waited. For all of his intelligence work and combat, Davits could not stop his heart from hammering away at his sternum. He briefly wondered if he was still standing close enough to the scanner for the machine to pick up his palpitations, and he took a reactive step back. Finally, after what felt like an hour, the door behind them _wooshed_ open without a look from the dour official.

All three were as elated as teenagers on the way to their first party as they walked through the gigantic spaceport hangar to a waiting taxi. Even the abjectly miserable Ketaris, flashed a half smile once out in the mid-morning starlight. Their next stop was the assigned hotel for all race participants where they would now go about the business of readying for the biggest swoop race in a generation. They would go out and study the course layout, run engineering tests. In short, the next three days would be no different from the days of the teams who had actually come here just to win a race.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The sun had not broken through the cloudbank when Davits woke the morning of the race. The past three days had been completely perfunctory. They had done their thing and apart from some routine participatory events, they had been left alone. Racers were notoriously solitary. Even though most were polite enough when the situation called for it, you really did not want to be making friends with someone you may have to put in serious danger in order to win.

Davits went out into the commons room and found Keric sitting at the small table next to the kitchen. He had a holo playing in front of him and Davits didn't need to be at the right angle to know it was his wife and child. At that moment he felt a strong pang of regret. One way or another this man would die today, and had it not been for Davits that would not be the case. He shook the thought out of his head. He gave the man a choice and he took it. Some things are much more important than a single life he told himself. Davits pulled up the chair next to him.

They had been put up at one of the swankier hotels in the Capital Sector, complete with a service droid. Already familiar with his morning routine, SC1 brought him a cup of Virgillian Roast caf. He took a cautious sip and felt the hot liquid open his throat and immediately clear the fog from his head and the sleep from his eyes. He looked at his comrade.

"You ready?" he asked.

Keric grunted. "I know my part".

"Not what I mean" Davits answered before another sip.

Keric picked up the holo base and the bluish image of a young beautiful brunette with a shaggy haired child clutched just below her bosom, shimmered as he held it aloft.

He stared at it longingly. "I made my peace with death years ago. Over the last three days I fallen in love with it".

He finally turned off the holo and looked at Davits. "Needless to say, you don't have to worry about me backing out".

Davits shook his head. "That's not what I was worried about".

Keric gave him an odd tilt of the head and an even odder half smile. It occurred to Davits that it was the first time he had seen the man's teeth. "Okay, that's not all I was worried about" he corrected.

Keric nodded his thanks for the honesty and went to stand up. Davits held out a hand and the man stopped to look at it. "I'm serious man. Say the word and we can call this off. We can find another way to do this".

"No we can't. and No, I won't call this off" he took his former enemy's hand in his own. "Either way this goes down today you'll be remembered as a hero".

"Not why I'm doing this, but thanks". With that he pumped his hand once and went back into his room.

The course was packed with beings from across the Core. Makeshift stadium seating had to be temporarily built along the entire track to accommodate the estimated one and a half million attendees. Imperial banners fluttered in the breeze and the Imperial March was played by the Royal Academy band before the start of the race. The pomp and pageantry was remarkable and for the briefest of seconds Davits felt himself being seduced by the propaganda all around them. He realized how easy it was for your average citizen to become wrapped up in the feelings of speciesism and nationalism that the Empire pushed.

The plan was not to make their move until the tenth lap of the race, which was halfway between the start and finish. The thinking was that security would be its tightest near the two ends of the event.

Davits and Antoc waited in the pit area and watched the laps count down. Keric was actually doing a pretty good job. He was currently riding in fourth of twenty racers. The danger in waiting was that the emperor would be called away before they could make their run at him. So Davits barely ever let the Imperial viewing platform leave his peripheral vision. The emperor was still there, dressed in a red robe with black and gold trim. He never wore his hood down since the "unprovoked" attack by the Jedi. An attack that no one with half a brain could believe was an unprovoked assassination attempt by three members of the Jedi High Council.

Davits was more concerned with the armored giant standing beside him. He reminded the old Clone Wars vet of an upgraded General Grievous standing above the emperor with arms folded across his chest and legs askance. He tried not to feel nervous as he watched the laps count down…13….12….11…until Keric zipped by them once more and sped through the temporary timing gate to begin.

Antoc looked to him and Davits nodded. With that his conspirator looked up from the lap telemetry device and activated the descend on the viewing platform. Platforms rose and fell continuously thoughout a race and it should've looked like they were readying for a pit stop. But as the sphere fell the armored giant next to the Emperor turned his head sharply towards them. From kilometers away the look seemed to pierce Davits soul and reveal his innermost secrets.

Antoc, who had been turned around waiting for the glass bubble to open, was pushed forward roughly. "Go! Go now!" Davits hissed, not letting go of his comrade's jacket.

"What? What about the gear?" he asked more than a little annoyed.

"Leave it! We have to disappear now!"

"What about confirmation?!" he asked again, growing angrier by the second.

"Stang confirmation! It's not going to happen!" Davits yelled, throwing Merrick's rising anger back at him.

Antoc Merrick had been taking orders from Davits Draven for well over a decade, and that faith had always been rewarded by surviving when those around them did not. He began running forward, allowing his captain's hands to fall from his shoulders and start propelling the older man as fast as they could. Ten seconds later they passed team lane security checkpoint. Ten seconds after they heard a loud explosion and panicked screams. Davits did not have to look behind him to know that explosion had taken place far above the heads of the one man they intended to kill.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Five minutes later they were at one of the few cab platforms up this high as most beings this far up had private transport. Clearly the race had brought up a number of lower ward denizens as this stand was packed.

"Eyes only" Draven muttered under his breath to his compatriot. Intel agents trained their peripheral vision to see on a hundred and eighty degree plane without turning their head, but in the heat of the moment they often needed reminding.

All the sudden he heard a series of gasps from the crowd around him and Antoc slapped him on the arm. "Look!" he breathed.

Davits looked up and across the skylane to the holonews being projected on a large screen hanging over the lane. It showed Keric heading toward the start/finish line before veering off and straight for the Imperial viewing stand. If Draven didn't know what he was looking for he would not have seen the human rebel holding a pocket torch to the bike's engine housing unit. A moment later his bike seemed to slow dramatically and then just as quickly it rose dozens of meters over head and left the viewing cam. The reaction of the crowd and the rain of debris a moment later told the viewers all they needed about what had happened. The replays focused on the emperor's non-plussed reaction. One even focused in on Ketaris's face, which showed him to be yelling something just before slowing and rising into the air above. While everyone was focused on the emperor and Keric, Davits was focused on the armored giant behind the Emperor…and the gripping motion he was making with his hand. Being in Republic Intelligence, Davits had served close enough to Jedi to recognize that hand movement for what it was.

Taxis were pulling up one after the other now as drivers clearly got the message that the race crowd wanted to leave quickly. Out of his peripheral Davits could see what appeared to be an ISD man dressed in all black leading a cadre of stormtroopers. Davits grabbed Antoc's elbow and began nudging him forward when he heard "check that cab stand"

"go, go, move!" he hissed and the pair pushed their way past a cornucopia of alien species who began exclaiming and guffawing in their own ways. Davits would hate himself later for it, but he pulled a Devaronian female getting into the back seat of a green and white cab back into her husband on the pedwalk, and he and Antoc jumped in as the security agent yelled "there!"

"Hey you can't do that! I won't take you anywhere you stinking human!" the Sullustan harrumphed and folded his arms across his chest.

Before he could finish his dramatic flourish Antoc had a holdout blaster to his temple. "Yes we can, and yes you will"

"ok, ok" the dimunitive alien said as he unfolded his arms and gripped the yoke. "Don't you worry about him just fly!" Merrick yelled as the black suited agent waved at the cab to stop. Showing an incredible amount of care for collateral damage for an Imperial he waited until the cab went by before he ordered his troopers to open fire.

"Stang!" the big eared alien yelled as blaster bolts rang off the outside of his cab.

"Down. Go down levels as far as we can get" Draven said as if his pulse rate was still seventy beats a minute.

"Down?" Antoc asked next to him.

"Not now. Trust me".

"By the Force, what did you guys do anyway?" the cabbie asked, still trying to turn his head away from the blaster barrel.

Davits risked a look behind him. "We tried to kill the Emperor" he answered and then saw the look of sympathy as the driver relaxed in his seat.

Davits put his hand on Antoc's forearm and the younger man brought the gun down from the being's temple. "Well I'm sorry you didn't get him".

"So am I".

"Stang! If we get caught I never said that last part" the Sullustan said as he reacted to something in his stern cam. Davits turned around and saw the armored Imperial City Special Response Team carrier behind them.

Antoc went to hold the blaster on the driver again but Davits stopped him. "We won't need that"

"Actually it might help me out" the alien cried.

"Go down. Straight down".

"I-I can't! traffic!"

The APC was joined by an Imperial Navy shuttle. "Fly around it!" Antoc yelled, holding the blaster back over the front seat.

The Sullustan muttered a curse or a prayer in his native language and jammed the yoke forward as far as it would go.

They crossed the sunlight threshold when the shuttle opened fire. Green bolts flashed by either side of the cab. The cab remained on its straight line headed down as the shuttle lined up for another shot.

"Weave!" Draven yelled, his voice rising for the first time.

"Do what!? What!?" the Sullustan cried, but it was too late, the second volley tore off the rear right quarterpanel and even got into the undercarriage and caused a torrent of smoke to rise out of the back.

"We're crashing!" the driver yelled. Davits lunged over the seats and grabbed the yoke, steering the cab to a pedway off to their left before pulling up on the yoke to allow them belly slide into a consignment shop, rather than nose dive into the duracrete.

Davits may have saved their lives, but not for long. As they shook off the cobwebs and got their bearings they could hear the anti-grav pulsers of the shuttle and the APC landing. Th Sullustan was rubbing a bad cut on his forehead as Antoc rooted around on the floorboard for his holdout blaster. Davits began scanning the vacant shop for a backdoor but didn't see one. He also knew there was no way one of the two teams outside would not be sent around the back of the shop.

"Got it!" Antoc said wearily as he came up from the floor with his blaster. Davits turned around to see the first troopers coming into view through the hole in the shop's front.

"Go down swinging?" Antoc asked his superior.

Davits didn't hesitate. "I'm not letting them take me alive" he said as he ejected his holdout from a wrist mount.

They could see the ISD agent come into view in front of the troopers. "Throw the blasters out the window of the cab. If both blasters are not thrown out in the next five seconds we will open fire".

"Scanners?" Antoc asked.

"What does it matter" Draven answered. "Hold up! We have an innocent bystander in here!"

"He does not concern me. If he was loyal he would've stopped at the platform. 4!"

"Oohhh Trelinza!" the driver cried.

"We had a blaster to his head!" Antoc yelled out the other side.

"If loyalty came easy it wouldn't be a virtue. 3!"

"Alright! They're coming out!" Draven yelled.

"they are?"

"Not mine" Draven answered. "On two. Ready?"

Antoc nodded vigorously.

"One, two!"

They opened their doors and raised blasters in one smooth motion. The troopers did the same as the ISD agent kept his hands folded behind them. Just as Draven squeezed the seven Imps went flying out of view of the hole in the shop. Davits looked at a stunned Antoc for a moment knowing he looked just as confused, before he heard a _snap-hiss_

"lightsaber?" he muttered almost to himself. He and Antoc ran to the hole in the shop only to see a large, young human in a leather jacket run by with a green lightsaber held high. He was so sharply in contrast to the last wielders of lightsabers he had seen that for a moment he thought maybe he was just a bandit who got his hand on a Jedi's weapon. But then he saw the stormtroopers trying to scramble to their feet off the pedwalk and from the dented sides of the shuttle and remembered how they got there. He cut a swath through the small six man stormtrooper team as bolt shots deflected back into torsos and legs and heads were removed with ruthless precison.

Finally the Jedi, cause what else could he be, stopped and looked back at Davits and Antoc who were climbing over the rubble of the shop's former front wall.

"There is an SRT tea-" before he could finish the first blue and black armored cop came around the corner and Davits put a bolt off his armor. It didn't make it through the armor and as the cop turned his rifle towards Draven a flurry of bolts came from behind him that dropped the cop. Three more Special Response Cops came around the corner firing, and all three were dropped by the most highly accurate shots Davits had seen.

When the last attacker clattered to the pedwalk he turned to see a green skinned twi'lek spinning and holstering two blasters on either side of her hips.

Davits was rarely frightened and never flustered, but even he could not wrap his head around what just happened. "Who? What?" he started to ask but the tall Jedi extinguished his green blade and took Davits by the shoulder and turned him to start moving away from the scene. "I'm Ferus Olin and this is Laranth Tarak" he indicated the female sharpshooter now off Davits other shoulder, "and we're with Whiplash".

"W-wait!" the cry stopped all four of them in their tracks and they turned around to see the small Sullustan holding his head and climbing over the rubble. "I can't go home now…you heard him".

"wait where is the agent?" Davits asked as Laranth moved to help the injured cab driver. Davits began moving towards the bodies scattered around the two shuttles, all of whom were clad in white or blue/black armor.

A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and he turned to Ferus. "It doesn't matter. The quicker we get away from this area the less that agent can do about it. Now let's go".

Davits didn't argue further. Instead he joined his growing group of comrades moving past the growing crowd of gawkers and on-lookers to where, he was no longer sure.


End file.
